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| half of the Europeans are oveweight |
According to a recently released Health at a Glance Europe 2010 report, by the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), over half of adults living in the European Union countries are now overweight or obese. The rate of obesity has more than doubled over the past 20 years in most EU member states.
Currently, one in seven children in the EU are overweight or obese and one of the reasons could be that only one in five children in the EU exercise regularly. Children who are obese or overweight are more likely to suffer from poor health later in life. It would be helpful to start the healthy habits from a young age.
The report covers the 27 European Union member states, three European Free Trade Association countries (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) and Turkey. Romania faired the best and UK the worst.
Ranking (Best to Worst)
1 Romania
2 Switzerland
3 Italy
4 Norway
5 Sweden
6 Netherlands
7 France
8 Denmark
9 Bulgaria
10 Austria
11 Poland
12 Germany
13 Belgium
14 Spain
15 Turkey
16 Portugal
17 EU
18 Cyprus
19 Finland
20 Slovenia
21 Slovakia
22 Latvia
23 Czech republic
24 Estonia
25 Greece
26 Hungary
27 Lithuania
28 Luxembourg
29 Iceland
30 Malta
31 Ireland
32 United kingdom (UK)
